WHISTLING PAST THE JOB GRAVEYARD

Gov. Jerry Brown’s reaction to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s recent forays into San Diego seeking to entice businesses to locate in his state would at first sound like the all-too-familiar and condescending comments of any denizen of the Golden State. But to a practiced ear, they really bring to mind the image of a man whistling past the graveyard.

It’s pretty weak to bring up the beaches and the weather to businessmen as the big selling point for why they should start a business or keep one here, especially when the costs to do so continue to climb.

I’m not just talking about the cost of regulation, or even of increasingly high taxes, although they are both uncompetitive when compared to other states. I’m talking about the cost of living and what it means when trying to attract and pay good employees.

It’s easy to be smug about the weather and the beaches if you are one of the fortunate people who work in a field that pays a six-figure salary. It’s a bit harder if you make closer to the median income, which in this state in 2011 was $61,632 (U.S. Census Bureau).

This is especially true if you consider that the median value of a home in the same period was $421,600. It would take two families making the median income to be able to buy that house.

In Texas, the median income is lower — $50,920 — but the cost of housing is less than half what it is here in California — $126,400 — easily affordable for that family.

What too many politicians and others seem to forget when considering the dynamism of this state is that the No. 1 reason our great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, or we came here was for opportunity — not the weather or the beaches. It was the promise of jobs and a new and better life that drew millions here.

Texas politicians and business leaders seem to understand this. They recognize they can’t compete with our state’s natural beauty and don’t even try. Instead, they talk about things such as less regulation, lower taxes and quality of life.

And it’s not just Texas that is courting California businesses. In 2005, Buck Knives relocated from its El Cajon home to Post Falls, Idaho, citing sharply lower costs.

Our state would rather answer its problems by adding more weight to the already crushing burden on the private sector through regulation and taxation.

The counter-argument is that the state continues to start new businesses faster than frustrated ones leave the state. How many of those businesses are started by the people left behind, unable to find replacement jobs, and how many fail?

Watching viable businesses leave the state should never be considered an acceptable option.

Kirk W. Effinger writes from San Marcos. Contact him at kirkinsanmarcos@att.net